I'm planning a trip from west central Georgia to Bay City, MI, to Wichita, KS, to Irving, TX and back to Georgia. I have S&T 2008 and SA 2009. Part of the fun in taking a trip is the planning so I put the information into both programs.

S&T did a spectacular job. The only change was to avoid I-75 through Dayton. I moved the route to I-675.

DeLorme tried to take me on the ride of my life. An example would be in Michigan. Going north, it routed me through Lansing (40 miles west) and through Flint rather than beside it. Anyone who's made the trip know U.S. 23, a limited access road, is almost a straight shot from Toledo to Bay City.

Going south, it routed me on I-75 through Detroit then west to Battle Creek on the way toward Lake Michigan. I'd rather be set on fire for 15 minutes than to drive through Detroit. In addition, I-75 is almost completely shut down for construction in and around Detroit.

From Chicago, it routed me north to Wisconsin and Minnesota then south rather than due west to Des Moines

I had to put in 5 "route avoid" areas to keep DeLorme from adding an extra 350+ miles to the trip. I've made the trip to Bay City many times and could almost drive it blindfolded. Adding Wichita and Irving to the mix caused the program to have a coronary.

Many years ago, I was a big supporter of DeLorme. This was when they first put out consumer mapping programs. In the last few years, I've become disenchanted with them and am changing my allegiance to S&T. For a Microsoft program, it's pretty good.

Has anyone else had these anomalies with DeLorme?

One thing about the road choices made by SA: Generally, both the shortest (and the quickest) routes were interstates. SA elected to choose OTHER interstate routes that were way out of the way. As I said, leaving the Chicago area, SA took me north to Wisconsin, west to Minnesota then south to Des Moines. The route due west from Chicago by interstate was direct to Des Moines.

What I'm saying is, preferences notwithstanding, SA still chose interstates but they weren't even close to being either the quickest or the shortest.

Marvin Hlavac

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mandolin Guy

Has anyone else had these anomalies with DeLorme?

I've seen routing errors in every single GPS navigation software I have ever used. In my limited experience in my geographical area it seems that products based on Navteq map data have the least number of routing issues and map errors.

Mandolin Guy

I know they all have errors but I can't see even the slightest bit of logic in a route that leaves one interstate to drive 200 miles out of the way on another interstate around an urban arrea, only to join back up with the first one. I don't think the map source is the problem. I think it's the individual company's programmers.

Marvin Hlavac

Yes, I think you are correct that sometimes it is the fault of the program, such as errors in adding the map data to the program, and/or routing algorithm issues. But sometimes the underlying map data may be the problem, too.

None of the mapping programs perform the same errors with the same routes so I'm linclined to think the problem lies with the programming.

YarmouthJason

Almost every time that you receive a crazy route it would be because the route preferences have been changed at some point. Please click on the Route Tab=>Advanced=>Route Prefs=>Use Defaults. This should make your routes appear more logical.

-Jason

Mandolin Guy

YarmouthJason, I've specifically checked the route preferences and they haven't changed. I think it's just a quirk in the program.

I've intentionally created the same route twice in a row to check the program. Sometimes it will create a different route the second time. Usually, it's nothing major like a route from New York to Seattle that goes through Miami but there are definite differences sometimes. Except in rare occasions, the corrections are easy to make.

YarmouthJason

If you have this route saved, would you mind emailing it in to tech@delorme.com so that we can take a look at what is going on? We're always updating data but ever so often there can be a data break which can lead to a strange route as well. I just want to see what is going on in this case.

EDIT: I just created a route based on the information provided and the route doesn't show any of the anomalies as quoted, (Wisconsin, MN routing or Detroit). Send in the route when you get a chance and we'll be better suited to assist you with settings. Thanks again!

Thanks,
Jason

Mandolin Guy

Ok, Jason. This message may take a few minutes. I've got to go to the kitchen and get some salt and pepper because it looks like I may be eating my words.

Only moments ago, I created that same route (Columbus, GA to MI to KS to TX and back to Georgia). The route was fine. So I did it a second time, it was fine. I did it a third...... Well, you can guess.

However, I know what I saw on the program. I'm not unfamiliar with DeLorme products. I've used them since the mid 90s. I'll try to recreate the problem.

In the meantime, I'll only eat the first couple of paragraphs, just in case I was right.

YarmouthJason

I don't mind if you are right! I just want to investigate why it might not be working correctly.

Thanks,
Jason

RonB

I too have become very disenchanted with Delorme. I bought Street Atlas 2010 + because it was the only software I was familiar with. I am planning a 25000 49 state 12 province odyssey this summer and plan to camp in state, national and provincial parks when possible. When I search POIs "campgrounds" with Delorme for 1 location it returns 2 mobile home parks and a bible camp.

The free trial version Streets & Trips I eventually used to plan this trip returns 30 real campgrounds many of which are provincial parks. On several legs of my trip Delorme Street Atlas routed me through city centers or several hundred miles out of my way. Sometimes though I find I don't want to go through a city ie. NYC. Streets & Trips lets you grab the route and move it to a more desirable route. I have never been a big fan of Bill Gates and company but with S&T they nailed it. Except Streets & Trips can not find my house (on a county road) or the lake I live on, but neither can most other mapping programs.